Album Review

There are so many compilations and reissues out on the 13th Floor Elevators that it's difficult to recommend one, but this small-scale, triple-CD box set does make the cut, if only for care and comprehensiveness. Essentially, this is everything they ever recorded for International Artists, the four official albums augmented by such choice bonus tracks as the Spades' version of "You're Gonna Miss Me" (plus its B-side, "We Sell Soul"), and the live 1966 San Francisco sides. Each is housed in a miniature reproduction of one of their original LP sleeves, and all of it is supported by a nicely annotated booklet. The sound on this box is exceptionally good, given 2002 standards.

Biography

Formed: 1965 in Austin, TX

Genre: Rock

Years Active: '60s

The 13th Floor Elevators were one of the pioneering bands of psychedelic music; many have cited them as the first true psychedelic rock band, and if they weren't, they certainly predated most of the San Francisco bands that gave the sound a global audience. The Elevators played a bracing fusion of garage rock and genre-defying musical exploration powered by Roky Erickson's feral vocals and rhythm guitar, Stacy Sutherland's concise but agile lead guitar work, and Tommy Hall's amplified jug playing,...